Monday, July 6, 2015

SE Racing - Scot Breithaupt

As a very young BMX racer I remember being pretty damn excited when I got my first real racing jersey. I chose an SE Racing jersey on the sheer virtue of liking both the color combination and graphical design. I recall having to look "Innovations" up in the dictionary because I had never seen the word before. I thought that was so sophisticated at the time. To this day I still think of it every single time I encounter the word. They typically didn't make BMX clothing in kids sizes in the early days. I had an adult small that I absolutely swam in. I didn't care, I absolutely loved that jersey.

SE's owner Scot Breithaupt (SE = Scot Enterprises) was one of the first people to build a real business around BMX. Most would agree he played a huge role in legitimizing BMX. SE also sponsored one of my favorite riders as a kid. I've respected and admired Scot my whole life.

A body found Saturday in a vacant lot in Indio has been identified as
Scot Alexander Breithaupt, a founder of bicycle motocross and a
National BMX Hall of Fame member. Indio police Sgt. Dan Marshall confirmed Breithaupt's identity and affiliation with the sport Sunday night. "We believe that is the same person — that he is a founder of BMX. ... That is the same guy," Marshall added.Breithaupt,
57 of La Quinta, was found in a tent in the lot at the southwest corner
of LasPalmas Road and Monroe Street around 9:15 p.m. Saturday. Marshall
said in a news release that Breithaupt had been dead for an unknown
amount of time before someone noticed his body and called police.

The cause of his death is under investigation by the county coroner. Police say there were no obvious signs of foul play. The National BMX Hall of Fame described Breithaupt, in a Facebook post Sunday, as "The Godfather of BMX." "As
one of the sport's first track operators and founder of SE Bikes — and
so many other contributions to the sport of BMX, this is a huge loss for
the BMX World. He was a founding track operator, a star racer since he
was a teenager in Long Beach, a creator of a major bicycling company and
major BMX promoter," the association said in its post. Breithaupt was passionate about the sport, said Craig Barrette, chief communications officer for USA BMX/The American Bicycle Association.

Barrette said Breithaupt had had legal trouble and struggled with addiction, but he always returned to riding BMX. Barrette described Breithaupt as an energetic guy and a go-getter.

"He was always going about 100 miles an hour," Barrette said, adding that Breithaupt had lived in the Coachella Valley since the 1990s.